Big Questions:
1. What is the difference between the amount of energy lost in an Elastic Collision vs. Inelastic Collision? 2. What is a better conserved quantity - momentum or energy?
In our lab we first set up the two carts, each with a mass of .25kg. After connecting the two range finders to the laptop and matching each one up with the corresponding cart, we began collecting data.
After creating an Elastic Collision, and an Inelastic Collision, we measured the speed of each cart before and after the collision in m/s. Then we calculated the momentum (kg x m/s) and energy (J) of the carts before and after the collisions.
- We then had to collect all our data to get the exact amount of results.
- This percentage lost in the inelastic collision.
- The percentage lost in the elastic collision.
In our inelastic collision, less energy was lost than in the
elastic collision
We also understand that more momentum is conserved than energy because a lot more energy looses sound and friction.
Real World Connections-
For a real world connection I think of when i'm playing basketball for collisions. When I shoot the ball I am aiming for the backboard and the ball collides with it. There is also momentum because the ball is moving toward at a certain velocity aswell. When the basktetball collides with the backboard it will continue collide onto the gym floor until it is at rest.
